1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the handling, manipulation and processing of digital content and more particularly to the transportation and Internet publishing of digital content, particularly image media objects and rich media.
2. State of the Art
Much of the phenomenal success of the web is attributable to its graphical nature. Literally, a picture is worth a thousand words. The capture of digital images has become routine, using digital cameras and scanners. Nevertheless, although the handling of images by website creators has achieved a high degree of automation, for the average technology user (the “imaging civilian”), manipulating and sharing digital images over the Internet remains a cumbersome and daunting process. Piecemeal solutions that have been devised for handling digital images require a level of sophistication that is beyond that of the ordinary user. For example, transferring a digital image may require first downloading a FTP program, then installing it, then running it and connecting to an FTP server by typing the server name in the connection dialog, then navigating to the proper subdirectory, selecting the files to be uploaded, making sure that the program is in binary transfer mode, then sending the files. For the imaging civilian, such an involved process can be daunting to say the least.
Additionally, as technologies advance and casual users begin to experiment with other media objects, such as streaming video, 3D objects, slide shows, graphics, movies, and even sound files that accompany imaging data, the processes required to share these rich media types on the Internet becomes exponentially more complicated and prohibitive. As the realization of the Internet as an interactive, content rich medium becomes more and more a reality, the need for enabling the use and distribution of rich content and media on the Internet will become the gating factor to its long term success.
A broad-based solution to the foregoing problem requires a web-based media submission tool that allows for submission of media objects in a convenient, intuitive manner. A company named Caught in the Web, has attempted to create a broad-based media submission tool known as “ActiveUpload”. ActiveUpload allows an arbitrary file to be dragged and dropped onto a web page control for upload to the web server. An ActiveUpload control allows users to, without leaving a web page, transfer files to a server (Internet or intranet) by selecting the files on the user's desktop that the user wants to transfer, then dragging them onto the web page. For example, a user, having visited a web page, can contribute pictures, documents, zip files, etc., without having to leave the web page and use an FTP program. Standard web authoring tools can be used to integrate ActiveUpload into web pages and change the behavior of the control.
Although Caught in the Web's ActiveUpload tool simplifies the user experience, it does little toward furthering “backend” automation in the handling and distribution of media objects and has no built in “intelligence” to streamline the process of handling and transporting rich media objects from the front end.